Related papers: LUNA: Status and Prospects
In order to study the processes creating intermediate and heavy nuclei in massive stars it is necessary to provide neutron capture cross sections and reaction rates close to stability and for moderately unstable neutron-rich nuclei.…
Neutrinos produced during a supernova explosion induce reactions on abundant nuclei in the outer stellar shells and contribute in this way to the synthesis of the elements in the Universe. This neutrino nucleosynthesis process has been…
An introduction to nucleosynthesis, the creation of the elements in the big bang, in interstellar matter and in stars is given. The two--step process $^4$He(2n,$\gamma$)$^6$He and the reverse photodisintegration $^6$He($\gamma$,2n)$^4$He…
For almost three decades it has been known that the study of astro-physically important nuclear reactions between stable nuclei requires the use of low-background, underground accelerator laboratories. The Felsenkeller shallow-underground…
The force that governs the evolution of stars is gravity. Indeed this force drives star formation, imposes thermal and density gradients into stars at hydrostatic equilibrium and finally plays the key role in the last phases of their…
This brief overview stresses the importance of laboratory data and theory in analyzing astronomical observations and understanding the physical and chemical processes that drive the astrophysical phenomena in our Universe. This includes…
Stellar nucleosynthesis is an important nuclear physics phenomenon that is responsible for presently observed chemical elements and isotope abundances. It is also one of the corner stone hypotheses that provides basis for our understanding…
Except for 1H, 2H, 3He, 4He, and 7Li, originating from the Big Bang, all heavier elements are made in stellar evolution and stellar explosions. Nuclear physics, and in many cases nuclear structure far from stability, enters in a crucial…
We discuss the fine-tunings of nuclear reactions in the Big Bang and in stars and draw some conclusions on the emergence of the light elements and the life-relevant elements carbon and oxygen. We also stress how to improve these…
The fundamental processes by which nuclear energy is generated in the Sun have been known for many years. However, continuous progress in areas such as neutrino experiments, stellar spectroscopy and helioseismic data and techniques requires…
Neutron stars are astrophysical laboratories of many extremes of physics. Their rich phenomenology provides insights into the state and composition of matter at densities which cannot be reached in terrestrial experiments. Since the core of…
In stars that lie on the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, like our sun, hydrogen is fused to helium in a number of nuclear reaction chains and series, such as the proton-proton chain and the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycles.…
Neutrinos play a crucial role in the collapse and explosion of massive stars, governing the infall dynamics of the stellar core, triggering and fueling the explosion and driving the cooling and deleptonization of the newly formed neutron…
Core-collapse supernovae are among the most fascinating phenomena in astrophysics and provide a formidable challenge for theoretical investigation. They mark the spectacular end of the lives of massive stars and, in an explosive eruption,…
We discuss results and future plans for low-energy reactions that play an important role in current nuclear astrophysics research and that happen to concentrate around the region of A=7. The 7Be(p,gamma)8B and the 3He(4He,gamma)7Be…
Neutrinos are known to play important roles in many astrophysical scenarios from the early period of the big bang to current stellar evolution being a unique messenger of the fusion reactions occurring in the center of our sun. In…
The nuclear rates for reactions involving 12C and 16O are key to compute the energy release and nucleosynthesis of massive stars during their evolution. These rates shape the stellar structure and evolution, and impact the nature of the…
Explosive nucleosynthesis is a combination of the nuclear physics of thermonuclear reactions, and the hydrodynamics of the plasma in which the reactions occur. It depends upon the initial conditions---the stellar evolution up to the…
Neutrino astrophysics offers new perspectives on the Universe investigation: high energy neutrinos, produced by the most energetic phenomena in our Galaxy and in the Universe, carry complementary (if not exclusive) information about the…
Nucleosynthesis in evolved (RGB and AGB) low-mass stars is reviewed under the light of the reaction rates recommended in the NACRE compilation (Angulo et al. 1999). We use a parametric model of stellar nucleosynthesis to investigate the…